Senegal: Cairn drilling plan approved

The government has approved plans by operator Cairn Energy for a 3D seismic survey followed by two appraisal wells and an exploration well on the Bellatrix prospect. Cairn estimates that the two discoveries made in Q4 2014 and the currently identified prospects and leads have a gross mean risked resource base of more than 1bn barrels.The company said the partners were finalising the sequence, location and evaluation targets for the wells. Drilling is expected to start in October, using the Ocean Rig Athena drillship contracted by partner ConocoPhillips.